G95: Providing short text alternatives that provide a brief description of
the non-text content

Applicability

Description

This technique is used when the text needed to serve the same purpose and
present the same information as the original non-text content is too lengthy
or when this goal cannot be achieved with text alone. In that case this
technique is used to provide a short text alternative that briefly describes
the non-text content. (A long text alternative is then provided using
another technique such that the combination serves the same purpose and
presents the same information as the original non-text content.)

In deciding what text to include in the alternative, it is often a good idea
to consider the following questions:

Why is this non-text content here?

What information is it presenting?

What purpose does it fulfill?

If I could not use the non-text content, what words would I use to
convey the same function and/or information?

Examples

A chart showing sales for October has an short text
alternative of "October sales chart". It also has a long
description that provides all of the information on the
chart.